Devine makes rational case for Scotland but 'we're different' claim lacks facts

Historian's suggestion of diverging cultures disproved by studies showing English, Welsh and Scots think alike on most matters

Liveblog: Monday's developments on the Scottish referendum

Ever since the eminent Scottish historian Tom Devine came off the independence debate fence in the Observer in favour of a yes (the Observer remains on the fence), historians have joined politicians, economists and poets in the fray in greater numbers. In Monday's Guardian, Devine himself provides some elegant context for the disengagement from the union he now endorses.

We can't have enough information of all different kinds, especially the calm, rational kind. Devine explains how the once-solid union, built around Protestantism, defined by would-be European conquerers, cemented by trade and Anglo-Scots empire, underpinned by the Kirk, have all faded since the 1960s. So have Scotland's old heavy industries for which Margaret Thatcher is a convenient scapegoat while the welfare state is under pressure. Europe makes England less important too, he says.

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